NHL teams are rarely, if ever, 100% healthy once the season begins, as the Bruins know well given how many players have been in and out of their lineup already.
The Bruins do appear to be moving in the right direction, though. There was a fairly important development at Monday's practice, as star defenseman Charlie McAvoy ditched his non-contact jersey and practiced in a regular jersey for the first time as he continues his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery.
McAvoy will travel with the Bruins on this week's three-game road trip to Pittsburgh, New York and Toronto, but both he and coach Jim Montgomery said he will not play. He will, however, continue to practice with the full squad and take contact, which is why it's important for him to travel.
"Let's hit the road. Let's do it," McAvoy said after Monday's practice. "I'm excited. I obviously won't be playing on this trip, but just to be out there to keep getting practices and pregame skates, to be with guys, I think we're at that point, the contact point, where it's more important for me to be on the ice with the guys than it is for me to be here by myself."
McAvoy underwent a left shoulder arthroscopic stabilization procedure on June 3 and was given an initial recovery time of approximately six months, which would be early December. Montgomery acknowledged on Monday that McAvoy is ahead of that schedule and that he is hopeful McAvoy will be back before Thanksgiving.
"He's ahead of schedule. He's ahead of December 1," Montgomery said. "He's just starting in his progression, like we have our internal timeline. I'm hopeful it'll be before November 24, to be honest, but he has to check boxes as we continue to progress here, and he's just starting that now."
Another key injured Bruin, David Krejci, will also travel on this road trip. Krejci did not practice on Monday and will not play Tuesday against the Penguins. Montgomery said he "most likely" won't play Thursday against the Rangers either, although he didn't 100% rule him out. Krejci is expected to return to practice sometime this week.
Krejci suffered an upper-body injury on Thursday when he took a late hit and high-stick from Red Wings forward Michael Rasmussen, who was suspended two games for the play. Notably, Krejci has not been put on injured reserve, which would have automatically sidelined him for at least seven days.
Here were the Bruins' lines and defense pairings in Monday's practice. Montgomery said he was leaning toward Linus Ullmark starting Tuesday and Jeremy Swayman on Thursday, but that it wasn't set in stone yet.
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Jake DeBrusk
Taylor Hall - Pavel Zacha - David Pastrnak
Trent Frederic - Charlie Coyle - A.J. Greer/Craig Smith
Nick Foligno - Tomas Nosek - Jakub Lauko
Hampus Lindholm - Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort - Connor Clifton
Matt Grzelcyk - Anton Stralman
Jakub Zboril - Charlie McAvoy
Linus Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman
